Grace Hase/Town Crier A fire ravaged four classrooms, including the one above, at Egan Junior High School in Los Altos Oct. 1.

The Santa Clara County Fire Department is offering up to a $10,000 reward to anyone with information leading to a suspect, an arrest or a conviction in the fire that badly burned a classroom at Egan Junior High School earlier this month, according to Ryan Cronin, acting chief fire investigator.

Representatives from the Los Altos School District and the Mountain View City Council last week participated in a study session that explored using a zoning strategy to facilitate acquiring land in the San Antonio shopping center area for a 10th school site.

A transfer of development rights (TDR) is used to exchange the right to develop one parcel of land to another. Uses of TDRs include preserving farmland and historical neighborhoods.

Representatives from the Los Altos School District and the Mountain View City Council last week participated in a study session that explored using a zoning strategy to facilitate acquiring land in the San Antonio shopping center area for a 10th scho...

Use native plants to replace stinkwort

As a professional, I have been converting weedy hillsides in Los Altos Hills back to native grasslands and wildflower fields. During that time, a new noxious weed, stinkwort, started growing along Interstate 28...

Elizabeth Barcelos/Town Crier Los Altos Research Center plans to open its doors next month to introduce the Matrix, a new data-sharing program that seeks to take on and eventually replace the internet.

Elizabeth Barcelos/Town Crier Los Altos Research Center plans to open its doors next month to introduce the Matrix, a new data-sharing program that seeks to take on and eventually replace the internet.

While Peet’s Coffee & Tea on State Street bustles with customers, things are much quieter...

Use native plants to replace stinkwort

As a professional, I have been converting weedy hillsides in Los Altos Hills back to native grasslands and wildflower fields. During that time, a new noxious weed, stinkwort, started growing along Interstate 280, then its seeds spread off the freeway onto town...

Representatives from the Los Altos School District and the Mountain View City Council last week participated in a study session that explored using a zoning strategy to facilitate acquiring land in the San Antonio shopping center area for a 10th school site.

Kevin Berne/Special to the Town Crier Members of the ensemble create the sacred burning bush in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s world premiere of “The Prince of Egypt,” a new musical by Stephen Schwartz (music/lyrics) and Philip LaZebnik (book). The production runs through Nov. 5.

Virginia Critchley Arbulich, a resident of Los Altos since 1960, died June 1 of pneumonia. Mrs. Arbulich was 88.

Family members remember the Salt Lake City native best as a devoted mother, as well as “an extended mother to all of their friends, and their friends, and their friends. ... She was endless with her quiet compassion and welcoming hospitality.”

The Arbulichs moved to Los Altos in 1960 and purchased a one-of-a-kind property at 350 University Ave. The house, built in 1917, sat on 2.5 acres, which today is much of Shoup Park. Family members recalled that Mrs. Arbulich adored her property and could be seen driving a tractor at midnight around the yard.

She founded the Tom Thumb Nursery School, working as school administrator, director and teacher. Mrs. Arbulich grew the school to 14 different facilities.

“Even as busy as she was, her children and their activities were foremost, so she’d run back and forth during the day between several of her schools and 350 University to see what was up,” recalled her son Scott.

Reading and collecting porcelain plates numbered among her many hobbies.

As a single, working mom back in the 1950s and 1960s, Scott said Mrs. Arbulich “made things happen on her own.”

“Mrs. A was so innovative, creative and frugal,” Scott said. “Back then, Mrs. A had in mind several improvements to her property, but hiring a contractor was too expensive. So when it came to adding a desired sprinkler system, she went to the library and read up on all it would take to complete – then installed her own version, and it worked!”

She also had a living unit built under the house for her mother.

“The digging, the framing, the electrical, etc., came to fruition,” Scott said, “and it all turned out successfully, without permits.”

Mrs. Arbulich was well known around the neighborhood in those early days.

“Whether you strolled, biked, drove, sneaked out or rode your horse over, you knew you’d never be turned away,” Scott said. “In fact, many friends would stop by even when (other family members) were not at home.”

Said Scott: “She factors into so many of our lives, some of the most important and, yes, daring times of our growing-up years. But who would we all be without her?”

Mrs. Arbulich is survived by sons Scott and Mark Arbulich. There are no services planned.

Special Sections

Submit a Letter to the Editor

The Town Crier welcomes letters to the editor on current events pertinent to Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View. Write to us at 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022, Attn: Editor, or email editor Bruce Barton at bruceb@latc.com. Because editorial space is limited, please confine letters to no more than 200 words. Include a phone number for verification purposes. Anonymous letters will not be printed.

You can also have your say right here at losaltosonline.com – scroll to the bottom of any story to add a comment.